Bank Official Pleads Guilty To Embezzlement in Nebraska

A former executive at a western Nebraska bank has pleaded guilty to stealing almost $1.4 million from the branch he ran.

     Matthew Monheiser pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to stealing $1,364,953.66 from the former First National Bank in Sidney.

     The 38-year-old says he has already repaid $500,000 to the bank and made arrangements to pay another $1 million in restitution.

     Prosecutors say Monheiser took the money between 2003 and 2012. Most of the money was obtained by creating loans or issuing cashier's checks in customers' names, increasing existing loans or creating new loans in customer names.

     Monheiser also took $82,000 in cash from the bank vault.

     Monheiser is scheduled to be sentenced on June 24. Prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence at the low end of the recommended range.

A former Sidney bank executive now says a gambling addiction drove him to steal more than a million dollars.

Matt Monheiser pleaded guilty in federal court last week to embezzling more than $1.3 million from what is now known as Points West Community Bank in Sidney.

He shared how deep the addiction became saying, “The best way I can explain it is that it consumed me as much as someone who does drugs, alcohol or smoking. Gambling took my career and almost my life away from me. I needed treatment in the worst way, but like most addicts you don’t know you need help until you hit rock bottom.”

After the embezzlement was discovered last August, Monheiser was relieved of his duties and treated at a wellness center in Virginia.

The bank has been re-paid in full, plus $136,000 in interest for a total restitution of $1.5 million according to Monheiser and the current bank president. Monheiser still faces sentencing and a likely prison term June 24.